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Thursday, 18 June 2015

23andMe genotypes one millionth customer

23andMe have today announced that they have genotyped their one millionth customer. The full press release can be read here. 23andMe have also sent out personal e-mails to all their customers advising them of their customer number. I am customer number 46,957. I was one of the early adopters in the UK. I couldn't afford to pay the then price of $499 but I took the opportunity to order a test for $99 when there was a flash sale on DNA Day in April 2010. There is a certain kudos to having a five-digit customer number but we do have a number of people in our genetic genealogy community in America who have four-digit numbers, and even some genetic genealogy pioneers with coveted three-digit numbers! I've copied below the e-mail that I received from 23andMe. The content of the e-mail is also reproduced on the 23andMe blog.

Last
week, we genotyped our one millionth customer. You are part of the one million
people driving change.

One million is more than a number. It's a turning
point. We are taking control of our data. We are taking ownership of information
about ourselves. We believe knowing more about who we are can benefit society,
not just the individual.

Just fifty years ago, doctors were reluctant to
tell patients if they had cancer.1 The
world is different today.

One million customers ago, attendees
were shocked at the annual American Society of Human Genetics conference
when direct-to-consumer genetic testing services were announced.2

One
million customers ago, we didn't know how consumers would react to
direct-to-consumer testing, but now there are studies showing consumers don't
overreact to their results.3

One
million customers ago, we didn't have the Genetic Information
Non-Discrimination Act in the United States or other personal data protection
laws that are now in place in many countries around the globe.

One
million customers ago, we didn't have direct access to our health laboratory
results. The United States recently mandated individuals can get laboratory test
results directly from the laboratory upon request.4

As
customer number 46,957, you are part of this unique group of one million people
driving change. I celebrate you, your 23andMe story and the power of all of us
today: #PowerOf1Million.

You'll often overhear me enthusiastically
telling people to "Spit!" but today is the day to be proud and let everyone
know: "I Spat!"

Family Tree DNA were the first company to hit the one million milestone but their tally of one million test takers is spread across two different databases. FTDNA have their own proprietary database but they also do the testing for the Genographic Project. There is some overlap between the two databases as Genographic customers can transfer their results to the FTDNA genealogical matching database.

It's taken nearly eight years for 23andMe to reach the one million milestone but the big growth only started to take place when they dropped the price of their test to $99 in December 2012. I wonder how long we will have to wait before we see the first two million or five million consumer DNA database.

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Copyright

The material on these pages is copyright Debbie Kennett or reproduced with permission from other copyright owners. It may be downloaded and printed for personal reference, but not otherwise copied, altered in any way or transmitted to others (unless explicitly stated otherwise) without the written permission of Debbie Kennett.